The Blonde Diaries

Finally, the new Yoplait flavors have arrived in stores!

Earlier last month, I reported in this post that Yoplait was releasing three new fat free yogurt flavors to help satisfy our sweet tooth. To refresh your memory, the flavors are dessert flavors: raspberry cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, and pineapple upside down. I have spent the last month and a half looking for these new flavors and my Kroger finally stocked the pineapple upside down flavor and HEB a few weeks ago had the strawberry shortcake flavor. It is amazing how long it takes for new items to appear on store shelves. So now that I have had two out of the three new flavors, let’s discuss my thoughts. Well, obviously it is a teeny tiny bit hard to find in the stores but they are slowly coming to a store near you.

Strawberry shortcake I was interested in trying because Weight Watchers just came out with their own version of this flavor but in a 4oz container. I found the Yoplait and Weight Watchers flavors to be very similar. You can definitely taste the strawberry and whipped cream coming through the yogurt. I will probably stick with the Weight Watchers version for right now as it is lower in points value (1pt vs 2pt) and I don’t think the extra 2 oz you get in the Yoplait version is worth a whole ‘nother point.

Pineapple upside down I think was the flavor I was most excited about. I LOVE pineapples and love anything that uses pinapple as an ingredient. I rarely make pineapple upside down cake so I thought this could be a really good substitute. I already enjoy banana cream pie and lemon cream pie flavored yogurt. Well, this yogurt, while good, was just not what I had in mind. The pineapple flavoring was not very strong but neither was the cake flavor. I will give props to Yoplait for adding pineapple tidbits to the yogurt but I still feel the yogurt falls short of expectations. I think adding a little more pineapple would help here. I will probably buy this one every now and then but not as much as I buy the other two pie flavors I mentioned.

I am still on the look out for the raspberry cheesecake flavor. I have yet to see it in the stores but I will report back once I do find it and try it out.

Weight Loss Update

A few weeks ago, upon my return from vacation, I shared that the impact of the hurricane and vacation on my health had been pretty minor. I only managed to gain 6 pounds but it was 6 pounds I didn’t need to gain. So I have taken to a number of methods to start shedding the pounds. The first was to obviously cut my calorie intake. The second was to start exercising again. The third method I am trying now is to vary the foods I eat and cut down on the number of carbs I take in each day. I have been using the tracker on fit day and man do I eat a lot of carbs! So this week I have been eating more “healthy” carbs like fruits, vegetables, and then lots of protein. I am down 3 pounds so I know I am making a difference. Slow and steady wins the race right?

So this is where I need your help. I need new healthy, low-carb recipes. I have the usual grilled chicken, baked fish, and grilled sausage down but I need help with varying them up. We like Italian but I do not have any good Italian recipes that do not include either a heavy sauce, pasta noodles, or something battered and fried. So any good recipes to share?

How to make Fish Tacos!

I have posted a few times about going and eating fish tacos at a local Mexican chain restaurant here in Houston but I have failed to explain how to make these tasty treats here on my blog. Fish tacos can either be fried or grilled and can be served on flour or corn tortillas. They are a great way to get fish added to your diet since fish is packed with Omega-3 and other good for you vitamins and minerals. I eat them both grilled and friend and tend to prefer them on flour tortillas since the corn ones can taste a little sweet to me.

So how can you make a fish taco at home? It is quite easy! All you need is a couple of fillets of either cod or tilapia fish and decide how you want to cook them. For grilled or baked, I will wrap the fish fillets in aluminum foil after spritzing with spray butter and tossing in taco seasoning. Next, I will bake following the directions on the back of the fish package. Once they are done you just transfer over to a tortilla and add your desired toppings. Lime juice, cilantro, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese all work nicely on the grilled/baked fish tacos. For fried fish tacos, pick up a package of the beer batter and a little bit of a thicker fish like cod. Batter the fish as you normally would batter fish and then fry as you normally would fry fish (I’ve never fried anything so unfortunately I am useless here). After they finish frying, transfer to a tortilla and top with your desired toppings. Since the fish is fried and a little meatier/thicker, this taco can handle a stronger sauce. Berryhill’s which is where Mike and I love to go serves it with a mayo based sauce that is similar to Thousand Island dressing (which I wouldn’t totally recommend here).

Have fun making fish tacos at home! I heart them!!

Edamame - say what?

In an earlier post I talked about how well I did last night at one of my favorite sushi restaurants by swapping edamame for crab lagoons. Crab lagoons are these fried wontons filled with cream cheese and I think a little bit of crab and you dip them in a sweet and sour sauce - very yummy, not very healthy to say the least! So I knew getting them would be detrimental to my diet so I swapped for edamame.

Edamame is a pea-like vegetable in that you usually have 2 to 3 beans per green pod. I actually did a little research today to learn more about them and if they are a healthy option to eat on a more frequent basis. Edamame is actually soybeans before they are turned into soy products. They are normally served warm at sushi restaurants because they are freshly boiled in salted water. What I learned today makes me even happier to eat them - they are packed in protein (13 gms per serving), low in fat (3gms per serving), and are typically moderate in the calorie content (125 cals per serving). I have noticed them sold in the freezer section of the grocery store so I think I will try and pick up a bag and make this at home. If you have never tried edamame before I highly recommend doing so. It is an acquired taste I will admit but it is so healthy and yummy that you really shouldn’t pass it up. I’ll let you know how the freezer version works out for me.

Almost done cleaning and down 2 pounds

This has been quite the week let me tell you. It started off with Mike and I returning to a stinky apartment and getting back to work after a two week vacation. I can’t believe it is Thursday already. Where has the week gone? My continued increase in water each day which was actually started at Disney has helped me to get rid of some of the water I retained thanks to all of the salt used in the food I was eating last week. I am now under 160 and I hope maybe another pound will disappear in a day or two since I went out for sushi last night. I stuck with a plain California Roll, a New Orleans Roll (lightly topped with eel sauce), and a bowl of edamame instead of crab lagoons which I love. So much better than I would be normally. Tonight I am making rice and sausage and will post pictures/recipe as I am making it.

On the smelly side of things, the smell is really dissipating. I did have to bleach the freezer but that has helped tremendously. I will continue the airing out and may bleach the freezer one more time before calling it done. One helpful thing has been my office at work considers Clorox Disinfecting Wipes “office supplies” so I have been able to pick up a few tubs of them to help keep the apartment clean. One way I am looking at this mess is that at the end of the month I would have to do a deep clean of the apartment since I am moving so this is really a good head start because I can get the baseboards and stuff now which are pretty bad and then just have to swipe them later. Always a positive to every negative!